Michael Thompson never really got a chance to become acquainted with TPC Louisiana during his abbreviated college career at Tulane.

Hurricane Katrina got in the way and then it wasn’t long before Tulane disbanded its golf program in wake of Katrina.

But Thompson looked real familiar with the course during Thursday’s opening round of the Zurich Classic where he shot a 6-under 66 to finish the first day in a three-way tie for fifth place and four strokes off the lead. He owed it to a blistering performance on his first nine holes of the day when he was 6-under par and near the top of the leader board.

Facing a stronger afternoon wind, Thompson didn’t do quite as well on his final nine holes, which were the first nine of the course. He recovered for birdie on a couple of the holes but dropped bogeys on holes two and six.

“I felt like I couldn’t miss a shot, I made almost every putt on my front nine on the back nine,” said Thompson, whose best finish on the PGA Tour this season has been two ties for 16th place. “I don’t think I missed a shot the first nine holes and then I pulled one left on (Hole No.1) but I gave myself another birdie chance.

“I never got myself in terrible trouble, the only bad one was No. 6 where I was kind of bouncing all over the hole and ended up making a bogey. That kept my round going and allowed me to make birdie on seven and eight.”

Certainly the afternoon wind took its toll on Thompson like it did many of the golfers in the field. But Thompson seemed to hit with enough power to not throw him off too much during his final nine holes.

“It got a little breezy, that’s a tough wind that south wind because it seems almost every hole the wind is pushing the ball towards the water wherever it is which is never a good thing,” he said. “Fortunately I was hitting the ball really solid which is a great thing in the wind because the ball doesn’t move much.”

At times the way Thompson handled the TPC course it seemed as though he had years of experience with it. But aside from the few appearances he has made during the Zurich Classic that simply isn’t the case.

The course was virtually new during what would have been his junior year at Tulane when Katrina hit. Thompson left the Green Wave and joined the golf team at the University of Alabama.

“I am getting more comfortable playing this golf course,” said Thompson, whose lone win on the PGA Tour came during last year’s Honda Classic. “At first I thought it was a really long, kind of big golf course where I felt like I had to overpower everything. But now I’m starting to play more within myself. When I do that I have rounds like today.”

Thompson admits that being back in New Orleans does bring back some special memories he made here which includes winning four tournaments during his two years of playing for Tulane.

“I have a lot of great memories going to school here and a few friends who have stuck around,” said Thompson, who was granted a redshirt year for his entire junior season by the NCAA. “So it’s kind of nice to reconnect with a city where I spent three years. “

Despite how things ended at Tulane, Thompson says he has no ill thoughts about what happened. The transfer to Alabama worked out in his favor.

“I’ve always described it as a blessing in disguise for me,” said Thompson, who earned SEC Player of the Year in 2008. “I loved New Orleans. I loved being in the city, having a lot to do, but I’ve always told everybody … if Katrina hadn’t happened and I stayed at Tulane, I probably wouldn’t have developed into the golfer I am today as quickly.